


Who is in Your Heart Now

by crimson_dawn



Category: South Park
Genre: Eventual Romance, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimson_dawn/pseuds/crimson_dawn
Summary: Stan and Kyle make a bet with Cartman. They're sure they can win in the beginning, but as time goes on, will their feelings change?
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Wendy Testaburger, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh, Scott Malkinson/Leopold "Butters" Stotch
Comments: 26
Kudos: 82





	1. The Bet

_Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep b-_

Stan clumsily reaches for the button to turn off his alarm, his eyes too bleary to properly see where he is reaching. 

"Ugh." He groans as he rolls back over, not yet ready to get up. God, he was tired. His chance to drift back to sleep is interrupted by his mother throwing open the door to his room and turning on the light. 

"Stanley, it's time to get up and get ready for school." she calls as Stan groans, covering his eyes. "This is the fourth time this week you've tried to sleep through your alarm."

"Because I'm exhausted." Stan mumbles, not quite loud enough for her to hear.

"Stan. Up." She disappears into the hallway and Stan is again tempted to roll over and go back to bed. He doesn't do that, though, because he knows if he does, his sister will drag him out of bed with brute force. She has some sort of team meeting for volleyball or lacrosse or some sport he can't remember and she wasn't going to let him make her late to school again.

_At least it's Friday_ _and I can sleep in tomorrow._ He wearily puts on a t-shirt and some pants, combs his hair, and heads downstairs. He reaches for his coat and hat resting on the coat hanger before he makes his way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Pancakes today, Stan!" says his father, slapping him on the back before heading out the door. 

"Thanks, Dad." Stan rolls his eyes and sits down to eat, paying very little attention to whatever his mom and Shelly were talking about. Stan finishes washing his plate off and heads toward the door. "I'm gonna leave now, Mom." 

"So early? Well, alright Stan. Be safe and have fun."

"Bye." Stan calls as he shuts the door and starts walking down the sidewalk towards the bus stop; the same routine as always. Kyle, already waiting at the stop, hears footsteps and turns around to wave at Stan, a big smile on his face. Stan waves back and starts running toward Kyle, his mood instantly lifted.

"Hey dude! Are you excited for tonight?"

"What's tonight?" Kyle can't tell if he's joking or not. 

"Our sleepover? That we've been planning for like a week?" Stan blinks. He isn't fully awake yet, and it takes him a moment to process what Kyle is talking about. 

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid. Yes, I remember." He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, his eyes closed. "Sorry, I'm really tired today."

"Stan, you're tired every day." Stan rolls his eyes and elbows Kyle playfully.

"But dude, I have some super cool stuff planned for us; it's gonna be awesome."

"Like what?" A new voice joins the conversation. 

"Oh God." Kyle groans. Eric Cartman joins them at the bus stop, with Kenny in tow, the latter of whom waves to the other two. 

"Hey Kenny." Stan waves back, ignoring Cartman's question. Cartman doesn't seem to notice as he launches into his daily tyrade about what he did after school the day before.

"Well anyway, as I was telling Kenny, I got this great new game yesterday and-"

"Oh hey look the bus is here!" Kyle points, grabbing Stan and quickly pulling him onto the bus, picking a spot for them to sit where Cartman wouldn't be able to bother them. Cartman boards the bus and heads to the back, shoving Clyde out of the adjoining seat in order to make more room for his backpack. Clyde sniffs and slowly brushes the dirt off the part of his jacket that hit the floor before getting back up and picking a seat on the opposite side of the bus. Kenny walks onto the bus just as Clyde sits down. Kenny gives him a sympathetic glance before making his way through the rows.

"Heya Kenny!" Butters' cheery voice reaches him from the left half of the bus.

"Hey, Butterscotch." Kenny grins, his smile partially covered up by his hood. Kenny walks over to sit next to Butters, who gladly makes space for him. The two had become closer friends in the past few years, and Butters always made sure to save Kenny a seat so he wouldn't have to risk getting squished into a corner trying to sit next to Cartman. Eventually, the bus fills up, continues on its way, and drops everyone off at school. The boys walk through the doors of South Park Middle School, which was tucked away in the southmost part of town near the forest unlike the elementary school.

_Maybe today won't be so bad after all._ Stan stretches his arms before sitting in his assigned seat for his first period class. So far he was right, up until the end of third period, which meant it was time for break. Stan was the last to leave the classroom, and the first thing he sees once he walks into the halls is a large group of students talking intensly about something, headed by none other than Cartman. Stan, who knew he didn't have anything better to do, begrudgingly walks over and joins the conversation.

"I'm telling you, that's totally what happened. And I bet if it happened again, it'd end the same way." 

"Nu-uh, that's just silly, Eric. Love doesn't work that way!"

  
"Yeah, fatass, that's stupid." Even Kyle was part of the conversation, and clearly he had more of an idea of what was going on than Stan did. 

"Okay, what the hell are you guys talking about?" Cartman was eager to answer. 

"So you know how Tweek and Craig are still dating?" 

"Uh.. yeah?" 

"Yeah, well did you know they were pretending in the beginning?" 

"Wait. Really?" Stan asked. Before Cartman could answer, Kyle cuts in, forcefully stepping closer to him.

"Yeah. Well they aren't pretending anymore, and Cartman over here thinks that if anyone pretends to date someone else, that they'll fall in love and start to date for real. And he won't listen to me and accept that dating doesn't work that way!" 

"How would you know, Kyle?" Kyle grits his teeth and clenches his fists, his face turning red. 

"Now, now, ladies, don't fight, you're both beautiful." Kenny grins, holding his arms out and stepping between the two. "Why don't you just test it and see who's right? Seems like the easiest solution to me." Cartman and Kyle exchange a look. For Kyle, it's a look of anger mixed with concern. For Cartman, it's a look of deviousness that worries Stan as well as Kyle. 

"Alright then, Kyle. Let's make it a bet, shall we?" Kyle crosses his arms. 

"Why." It comes out as more of a statement than a question. 

"Because, Kyle, you just seem so confident, and I think I know the perfect couple to use in this little experiment." 

"Oh really." Cartman looks at Kyle, then turns his gaze to Stan, who feels his blood run cold. _Oh no._ As if he had read Stan's thoughts, Cartman smiled and turned back to Kyle. 

"Oh yes. Kyle, I propose that you and Stan fake date for a month. If you two don't fall in love by the end, then you win. And if you do, then I win." 

"Oh my God." Stan says, audibly this time, as he pinches the bridge of his nose again. Right away, the entire group can tell Kyle isn't sold on the idea.

"First off, a month is way too short a time for anyone to fall in love. Second, why me and Stan? How does it make any sense to have me be part of the bet when you're making the bet with me? And third, I know you can't be doing this just for fun, so what are you hoping to get out of this if you win?" 

"Well I'm so glad you asked, Kyle. I figured you were confident enough to be able to put your friendship to the test. After all, Tweek and Craig didn't get along before they started pretending. If I'm wrong, then why would anything happen between you and your best friend? Besides, if a month is too short, then this should be easy, right?" 

"So what, you're just doing this all to try and prove that you're right?" 

"Of course not, Kyle. If I win, I want you to do all my chores for a month. Plus I get to make fun of you as much as I want." 

"You already do that. But what do I get if I win?" Cartman starts to laugh almost immediately. 

"If you win, which totally won't happen, I'll do your chores and I'll stop making fun of you." 

"For a month?" Cartman grabs his stomach, still between small fits of giggles. 

"Sure, Kyle, sure. You win and I'll do all that stuff for a month. But that's never gonna happen! Hahaha." Stan, who had been completely enthralled in the conversation, finally broke out of his trance when he noticed Cartman was turning around to walk away. 

"Hey wait, don't I get any say in this?" Cartman pauses. 

"Oh Stan, I was wondering when you'd step in." The group had grown a lot thinner now, with only Kenny, Butters, Clyde, Scott, Kyle, Cartman, and Stan himself remaining. "Well, what do you think? Are you willing to help your good friend Kyle here test out our hypothesis?" Stan's eyes flitted from Cartman to Kyle, then back to Cartman, and finally back to Kyle one last time. He stared at his friend's face, searching for any indication or sign of what he wanted Stan to do. 

"You don't have to, Stan." Kyle reassures him.

"Yeah man, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do." Kenny places a supportive hand on Stan's shoulder.

"C'mon Stan, we haven't got all day." The bell rings after Cartman finishes talking, reinforcing his statement. "Well?" Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny were the only ones left in the circle beside Stan after the others hurried to class following the sound of the bell. 

"I don't know! This is a lot to drop on someone at once!" Stan panicked. He had no idea what the right thing to say was, and he wasn't even sure what he wanted the right thing to be.

  
"Dude, just say no, we're gonna be late to class." begged Kyle, tugging on the sleeve of Stan's jacket. 

"You're just saying that because you know you'll lose." Cartman smirks, causing Kyle's grip on Stan's sleeve to tighten. Stan looks at Kenny, who simply shrugs. 

"It's your call, man." _Great. That's helpful._ Stan sighs, moving Kyle's hand off his jacket.

"God, this is so stupid. Fine, whatever, I'll do it. Can we just go to class now?" 

"Then it's a bet. From now on, you and Kyle are officially fake dating for an entire month. Have fun! I know I will." Cartman sticks his tongue out at them before turning and walking away. "C'mon, Kenny." Stan and Kyle both look at their taller friend, feeling betrayed. 

"Sorry guys." He frowned awkwardly as he started following Cartman to the classroom. He pauses for a moment and says, "Text me later, yeah?" before shutting the door behind him. 

"So... should we go to class now?" Kyle asked sheepishly. 

"I guess." Stan shoves his hands in his pockets, ready to get the day over with so they both could get to the fun activities he had planned. Just as they turn to go to their fourth period classroom, Cartman bursts back into the hallway, opening his own classroom door. 

"Oh yeah, one last thing. If you're going to pretend to be a couple, you have to do it properly! Which means you have to hold hands!" 

"Eric Cartman, sit down!" his teacher yelled from inside, prompting Cartman to roll his eyes and close the door on the two now even more embarrassed best friends. Stan looked at Kyle, who looked back at him with an equally flustered expression. Kyle held out his hand, wordless. Even without saying anything, Stan could tell Kyle was just as nervous about this as he was. Stan looked at Kyle's outstretched hand for a moment before slowly taking it, his palms already sweaty. He sighed.

"God. Damn it." was the only thing he could say as they entered the room together. 


	2. The Sleepover

Stan: kenny help everyones looking at us weird

Stan: well i guess not everyone. just most people

Kenny: Lol

Stan: thanks

Stan: tell cartman he sucks

Kenny: Will do

Stan slips his phone back into his coat pocket and puts his head in his hands. He couldn't focus on the lesson with everyone's eyes glued to him and Kyle. Or at least, it felt like everyone's eyes were glued on them. Some people were whispering in the back, but there was no way for Stan to tell whether or not they were whispering about him. Either way, focusing on it wasn't going to help. Focusing on class also wasn't going to help. He looks over at Kyle, who is nose deep in the book they were assigned to read, probably also trying to distract himself from the prying eyes. He catches Stan looking at him and smiles awkwardly, his face pink. Stan returns the smile, his heart thumping in his chest when he notices the way Kyle's eyes held a more sincere smile and how the color on his cheeks seemed to light up his whole face. Stan felt his face start to heat up as well and turned back to his assignment. Focusing on Kyle definitely wasnt going to help. God, why did he agree to this again? The only person he had ever even talked with about any romantic feelings he had was Wendy, and that had never ventured into the territory of him potentially liking boys, let alone his best friend.

_It's just fake dating, Stan. Everything will be fine. He's your best friend, he knows you and you know him. Nothing bad is gonna happen. You'll be fine._ His freedom comes when the final bell rings, and he can leave the school day behind him. At least, he wants to, but he knows with the way Cartman was teasing him and Kyle at lunch that he wasn't going to let up any time soon.

"Hahaha, look at them, Kenny. Still holding hands." Kenny raises an eyebrow.

"Because you told them to?"

"Yeah but it's hilarious, I mean look at them!"

"I am. They just look like two friends holding hands." Cartman rolls his eyes.

"You're no fun, Kenny." Stan can hear them talking behind him as they approach their houses. "Well, this is where we split ways. Or I guess where me and Kenny split ways, since you two are stuck together." Cartman taunts.

"We actually like hanging out with eachother, dumbass."

"Hahah yeah I bet you do." Kyle growls as they watche Cartman walk away, his grip on Stan's hand tightening.

"For what it's worth, I like hanging out with you guys too." Kenny grinned at them. "See you tomorrow!" He waved before begining the long walk back to his house.

"So..." Kyle loosened his grip on Stan's hand. "Should we go in?" Stan's feet feel like they're nailed to the ground as he stares at the door to his house. This should be easy, right? Kyle comes to his house all the time; there's no reason for anything to be weird, right? "Stan." Kyle's voice cuts through Stan's daydream. "Stan? Can you hear me?"

"Sorry, sorry, I got lost in thought. Uh...are you ready?" Not entirely waiting for an answer, Stan starts to walk forward, but stops when he feels a resistance. He turns to look at Kyle, who raises their still interlocked hands into view.

"Um, Stan? You know we can stop holding hands now, right? Cartman is gone." Stan's face flushed, embarrassed.

"Right, right." he nodded sheepishly while letting go of Kyle's hand. Stan opens the door and walks inside with Kyle behind him. "I'm home, Mom." he calls, dropping his backpack on the floor by the couch. He sits down and pats the seat beside him, inviting Kyle to do the same.

"So," said Kyle, leaning against the arm rest instead, "What's all this exciting stuff you have planned?"

"Remember how I told you to pack a swimsuit? Go put it on." Kyle gives him a skeptical face.

"Why?"

"Just do it man, I promise it'll be fun." Stan nudges Kyle with his foot. Kyle groans, smiling and playfully pushing Stan's back as he walks behind the couch and grabs his bag to go change. While Kyle was changing, Stan went into the downstairs bathroom to do the same. They met back up at the couch, where Stan then ushered Kyle towards the backyard.

"Okay, I know you don't have a pool; what are you planning?" Kyle asks, grinning excitedly. Stan steps into the grass and gestures at a fairly large bucket full of water balloons.

"It's been getting warmer recently, so I figured a water balloon fight would be fun." Kyle reaches for a water balloon.

"Oh, this will definitely be fun." he smiles before throwing the balloon directly at Stan's face. The two boys enter the house a while later, laughing and soaked from head to toe. Stan hands Kyle a towel, who eagerly takes it and starts to dry off his hair. Stan found himself unintentionally staring at his friend as he ran the towel over his red curls, the remaining water droplets reflecting the light from the sun. Stan didn't want to admit it to himself, but in that moment, bathed in sunlight with water dancing off his smiling face and light freckles, Kyle looked almost... beautiful.

_I must be losing my mind._ Stan thinks to himself as he finishes drying off his own hair. _Kyle is my best friend, I can't think about him that way! I shouldn't. Even if we are fake dating._ Kyle looks back up at Stan, eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"So what's next?"

"Well, first we should change into something dry," Stan laughs. "It's still early, but we could change into our pajamas now if you want to be extra comfy."

"Sure!" Kyle shrugs casually before racing back upstairs to Stan's room, where he last left his bag. Once they were both fully dry and in some warmer clothes, Stan brought Kyle into the kitchen. "What, are you gonna cook dinner for us too? We're supposed to be fake dating, not fake married, Stan." Kyle teases. Stan rolls his eyes, ignoring him and instead gets out a bag of popcorn and puts it in the microwave.

"My Mom is ordering pizza, but if you want to only have popcorn for dinner, be my guest." Stan leaned on the kitchen counter and waited for the microwave to ding. "But since it's not time for dinner yet, how about a movie?" The two took their seats on the couch once more and turned off the rest of the lights in the living room in order to give it more of a movie theater-like feeling. "I know you said you hadn't seen this one, so I asked Mom if we could rent it." It was the latest Terrance and Philip movie that Kyle had somehow managed to miss the entire time it was showing in theaters.

"Good man, Stan." Kyle punched his friend's arm with a smile. About halfway through the movie, the doorbell rang, waking up Stan who had dozed off and startling Kyle who had been watching intensly. "Pizza's here!" Kyle lept up from the couch and ran to turn on the lights.

"Are you enjoying your movie, sweetheart?" Stan's mom ruffles his hair as she walks to the door. Stan yawns. It wasn't that the movie was boring or anything, he simply couldn't keep his eyes open while sitting on the soft couch in the dark. At least the pizza would give him an energy boost so he could finish the night properly. He and Kyle sat on the couch once more, this time with plates, and continued their movie while they ate. Stan finished first, and the movie ended before Kyle had finished his last slice.

"Dude, that was awesome! Thanks, man." Kyle grins, taking a bite of the pizza.

"No problem, dude. I wanted to make this as fun as possible since we don't get the chance to do sleepovers as much anymore."

"This just means I gotta think up some real good stuff for next time, when you come to my house!" Kyle answered between bites. Stan smiled a bittersweet smile. He really missed being able to spend time with Kyle like this, but with school becoming more difficult and taking up a lot of their time, they no longer had many chances to hang out for long periods of time. "So," says Kyle as he takes a sip of his drink, "What's next?"

"Oh! Be right back." Stan dashes into the kitchen in order to tell his mom that they had finished dinner and were ready for the next event. Stan brings Kyle into the backyard again, where his mom is finishing up lighting a fire in their fire pit.

"Okay, sweetie, please be careful. And let me know when you're done!"

"I will, thank you!" Stan calls after her as she goes inside and shuts the door, making sure she can still keep an eye on the boys from the window.

"S'mores?" Kyle asks, eyeing the bag of marshmallows Stan's mom had brought out earlier.

"S'mores." Stan answers, handing Kyle a marshmallow and a stick. They sit around the fire pit, laughing and joking together while they roast their marshmallows, Kyle almost in tears from laughing so hard after Stan ends up burning his third marshmallow in a row.

"Dude, what are you doing? It's not that hard, just take it out of the fire before it burns!" Kyle wipes his eyes with his free hand before handing Stan another marshmallow.

"But I want to make sure I toast it long enough!" Stan lowers the new marshmallow into the fire.

"I think you definitely toasted the last ones way too long." Kyle bursts out into another fit of laughter.

"Oh, shut up." Stan sticks out his tongue playfully, which only prompts Kyle to throw a marshmallow at him. "Hey! Don't waste those!"

"Sorry, you're right. You'll probably need all of them!" Kyle can't hold back his laughter, and this time Stan joins in as well. Eventually, Stan takes his slightly overcooked marshmallow out of the fire and brings it over to the small outdoor table his mom had set up for the other ingredients to go on. He places it on one half of a graham cracker, puts chocolate on top, and then another graham cracker half, then walks back to sit next to Kyle.

"This is gonna be delicious, I swear." Kyle, who is in the middle of his own non-burnt S'more, watches Stan take a bite. "Ish shtill a liddle hot." Stan says between bites.

"Stop eating it then, you're gonna burn your tongue!" Kyle grabs another marshmallow for himself, and a few extras for Stan.

"No, I have to keep going. It's delicious, Kyle. It's the perfect marshmallow, perfectly roasted for maximum flavor." Kyle hands him the new marshmallows.

"Yeah, if you like the flavor of burnt sugar." he grinned. Stan sticks his tongue out at Kyle again, this time with some S'more bits still attached to it. "Dude, gross!" Kyle tries to cover his view of his friend's face with his hand, laughing.

"Okay, time to get ready for bed, honey." his mom calls after a few more minutes. Stan hadn't realized how long they had been sitting outside. He and Kyle hesitantly get up after his mom pours some water on the fire to put it out.

"Man, I wish this didn't have to end so soon." Stan sighed, his head resting on his hands. They were now in his room, Stan sitting on his bed and Kyle in a sleeping bag on the floor next to him.

"I know. Me too." Kyle said quietly. The light was still on, but Stan knew his mother would tell them to turn it off and go to sleep soon enough. "But it's been a lot of fun." Kyle smiled up at Stan softly.

"Yeah, it has." Stan sat up. "I'm glad you could come." He got off the bed and sat next to Kyle on the floor. He could feel himself getting tired, but he would never admit it. He wasn't ready for the night to end, for this to be over.

"I'm glad too, Stan." He feels something touch his hand and looks down to see Kyle place his hand on Stan's own. "I'm sorry about earlier today." Kyle glanced at the ground. "I didn't mean for this to get so out of hand."

"It's okay." Kyle looks up to meet Stan's sympathetic smile. "At least it's with you." Kyle pauses, his glance turning back to the ground. Whatever thoughts he was having were interrupted by Stan following his statement with a question. "Dude could you imagine if you had gotten stuck with someone else? What if it had been Cartman?"

"Oh God, Stan, that's gross!" Kyle smacks Stan in the face with his pillow. "I don't even want to think about that."

"Well, how about thinking of this?" Stan retorts, dragging his own pillow off his bed and throwing it at Kyle. He misses.

"Man, you're terrible at this. How'd they let you on the football team again?" he smacks Stan again as the other goes to pick up his pillow.

"Very funny." Stan hits Kyle with the pillow this time, standing above him, which prompts Kyle to get out of his sleeping bag so the two are on more even ground.

"You hit like a girl." Kyle teased, swinging his pillow at Stan's stomach.

"Have you ever had one of them throw something at you? That's a compliment." Stan barely leans out of the way in time and returns the blow.

"You're right, what was I thinking? They could probably hit WAY harder than you!" This time Kyle hits his mark. Stan falls over, laughing, and whacks at Kyle's legs. "That's not gonna work." Kyle laughs, gently bopping Stan over the head with his own pillow.

"But how about this?" Stan takes him by surprise, leaping up from his position on the ground to tackle Kyle.

"That's cheating!" Kyle calls, his back hitting his sleeping bag. Stan, still above Kyle with his hands on either side of him, laughs. Kyle laughs too, for a moment. Stan stops laughing when he notices Kyle's silence. He stares at Kyle, whose gaze is fixated on him, both boys breathing heavily after falling to the floor. Stan swallows. He could feel it again as he balanced above Kyle, looking at his face. The way Kyle's cheeks were red, the way some of his curls fell out of his hat, the way his freckles went down to his neck and dotted his arms. He found himself studying Kyle's chest, the way it rose up and down as he breathed. No, he was just admiring his shirt, that was all. Yeah. He looks back up and meets Kyle's gaze, and he almost forgets to breathe in again when he sees how green Kyle's eyes are. Had they always looked that way? He hadn't noticed. But he certainly noticed now. Stan's face flushed. He thought of the way Kyle looked earlier, with the sun reflecting off his wet hair and smiling face. He thought of the way Kyle sounded when he said he also didn't want the night to be over. He thought of how Kyle had put his hand on his own only moments ago. Wordlessly, eyes still locked on his friend's face, Stan shakily moves his hand onto Kyle's. He can feel Kyle tense up underneath him. Neither of them say anything for a while, until Kyle breaks his gaze and cuts the silence.

"Stan." Kyle's voice is quiet. He balls his hand into a fist underneath Stan's. "Please get off me." He won't look Stan in the eye.

"Oh god, sorry, sorry." Stan raised his hands defensively and stood up. "I kind of spaced out again there." he rubbed his arm shyly. Kyle didnt answer. "Hey, are you okay?" Stan pressed. Kyle didn't look at him, instead getting up to climb back into his sleeping bag. "Kyle?" Stan went back and sat on his own bed, a tight feeling in his chest. His heart was beating so hard, he swore he could hear it.

"I want to go to bed." was Kyle's only response.

"Oh, uh, okay." Stan quickly walked over to turn off the light. He gently stepped around Kyle, who had turned over and was now laying on his side, facing the wall. "Uh... night, Kyle.' Stan's voice wavered slightly as he climbed into his own bed.

"Goodnight, Stan." Kyle was still turned away from him. Stan was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't sure for how long. He closed his eyes briefly when he heard his mom gently open the door to check on them, but reopened them when he was sure she was gone. All the thoughts racing around in his head prevented him from sleeping.

_Everything was going so well, what happened? Is Kyle mad at me? Is it because I touched his hand? Or was it something else? What if he thinks I actually do like him that way. Oh god, what if he's not wrong? Is he mad because he thinks I'm going to cost him the bet?_

After a while, Stan eventually drifts off to sleep, his mind still racing but his eyes and body too tired to stay awake. He was too far away to realize Kyle was also still awake, and in too deep a sleep to hear Kyle whisper to himself, "Fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh ohhh
> 
> im really excited to keep writing this story and honestly if i didnt have other stuff to do, this chapter wouldve been done yesterday, oops
> 
> but i hope yall enjoy and that youre taking care of yourselves out there!
> 
> need to fix the formatting on the texts but ill do it tomorrow aghh


	3. The Question

Stan was woken up by the light pouring through the window to his room. It took him a moment to remember the events of the previous day since he was still a little groggy, but once his thoughts caught up to him, he immediately turned to talk to Kyle. To his still tired surprise, Kyle wasn't there. His room was empty except for himself. He checked his phone. It confirmed that it was Saturday, which meant the sleepover had happened. So then where was Kyle? As if on cue, his mother gently opened the door to his room.

"Oh, you're already awake." she smiled as Stan rubbed his eyes.

"Where's Kyle?" he mumbled, running a hand through his messed up hair.

"He asked to go home early since he wasn't feeling well. He would've told you but he didn't want to wake you up."

"Oh." Stan's face fell.

"He wanted me to tell you thanks and that he had a fun time." Stan's mother gave him a sympathetic glance before walking back downstairs. Stan checked his phone again, but there weren't any new messages. He figured Kyle would have said something to him by now, considering that Kyle usually gets up earlier than Stan on the weekends. He hesitated for a moment, remembering his fears from the previous night, before sending a message.

?Stan: kyle? are you okay

He waited, but there was no answer. Maybe Kyle's just sleeping in?

Stan: i hope you feel better

And with no other response, he left it at that. If Kyle wasn't feeling well, there was no point in badgering him to reply; that would only make him feel worse. Stan flicked through his contacts, searching for someone else to talk to, someone he wouldn't be scared to talk about the sleepover with. Eventually he realized that he kept scrolling back up to Kenny's contact. Kenny had always been a reliable friend and they had already talked about hanging out later that day, so Stan felt comfortable clicking on his name.

Stan: hey kenny whats up

Kenny: Not much, hbu?

Stan: kyle went home early, he said he wasnt feeling good

Stan: i think he might be sleeping in today

Kenny: Thats odd. He replied to me like a few minutes ago

Stan: oh

?Stan: did he say if he was feeling any better

Kenny: Idk lemme ask

Stan set his phone on his nightstand and lay back down, his head being embraced by his pillow. Why would Kyle just ignore him like that? He usually was quick to respond; was he still upset? He sighed and closed his eyes, attempting to block out the sunlight. He heard his phone buzz and checked the message. Surprisingly, it was from Kyle.

Kyle: Thank you.

That was all. A moment later, another message popped in, this time from Kenny.

Kenny: He said hes doing a little better, but idk

Stan sighed. Why was Kyle being so chatty with Kenny, but not his best friend? If Kyle was willing to talk to other people, maybe he could ask Kenny to help him find out what was really going on, and how to fix it. Stan slowly typed out a message.

Stan: can we talk later

He looked away from the screen, feeling a strange mixture of nervous and embarrassed. Was it really okay for him to do this, to ask Kenny to get information? If Kyle was mad at him and didn't want to talk to him, what other choice did he have?

kenny: Sure

And with that, Stan got up and began to get ready for the day, eagerly awaiting the moment when he might be able to figure out what was actually going on. Stan stepped out of his house and met Kenny on the sidewalk, the cool mountain breeze ruffling his hair. Kenny waved, grinning. Stan waved back, attempting a grin but failing and ultimately settling on a very uncomfortable looking smile.

"So, whatcha wanna talk about?" Kenny asked as they sat down on the edge of the sidewalk together.

"Kyle." Stan said more bluntly than he meant to. "Is he mad at me?" he added, the worry returning to his voice.

"Wait, why would he be mad at you? Didn't he say he was just feeling sick?" Stan looked down at his hands.

"Yeah, but.. he seemed fine before we went to sleep and now he's acting like he doesn't want to talk to me." Kenny blinked.

"Stan. Really? He's probably just tired. Kyle wouldn't ignore you out of the blue like that."

"I don't know, dude. He didn't answer my messages until after you asked how he was doing, and even then it was very... brisk." Stan held his phone out for Kenny to take a look.

"Okay, that is a little weird, but still, it could be anything. Besides, you know how Kyle gets when he's mad, he isn't shy about chewing someone out when he gets upset." Stan nodded quietly; he knew all of this was true. Kenny looked up at Stan and handed him his phone back. "Do you want me to ask him if he's mad at you?" Stan vehemently shakes his head. Although he had considered it and it was tempting, talking to Kenny even for a short time made him realize it was a bad idea.

"No way, dude. I don't want to bother him. Besides, if he is mad at me, I think that would just make it worse."

"Whatever you say." Kenny shrugged and winked at Stan. "So was there anything else you wanted to do, or are we just going to not talk about Kyle all day?" Stan paused. "If you don't have any ideas, do you wanna just go hang out and play video games or something?"

Kenny stood up, causing Stan to grab his wrist without thinking.

"What if I cause Kyle to lose the bet?" he whispered, his voice cracking.

"What?" Stan stood up, letting go of Kenny's arm.

"Kenny," his chest and throat felt tight, like he shouldn't be able to get the words out, but they spilled out of his mouth regardless. "I think I- I think that maybe-" he struggled. "I like Kyle." He gripped at his arms, hugging himself and staring at the ground, his face red. _God damn it. Why did I say that? What was I thinking-_ His thoughts were cut short by a comforting hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned to look at Kenny.

"Hey. It's only been a day, it's okay. You're just seeing Kyle from a different angle and you aren't sure how you feel yet, it's okay. You're okay." Stan sniffed.

"When did you get so smart about this stuff, Ken?" he laughed awkwardly.

"Let's just say I've been where you are." They smiled at each other for a moment, and in that moment, Stan felt his anxiety melt away. Maybe he would be okay, maybe this was just temporary, and he would be fine and his relationship with Kyle wouldn't change. "Actually, you know who would be good to talk to?" Stan froze. He knew where this was going.

"Oh god."

"Tweek and Craig." Stan threw his head back and groaned.

"Kenny, I'm pretty sure Craig hates me, I don't think he's going to want to help."

"Then go talk to Tweek."

"But-" Stan protested.

"He's probably working at the coffee shop today, just go say hi." Kenny slapped him on the back.

"Will you come with me?" Stan looked at him meekly, feeling multiple different shades of embarrassed, nervous, and afraid.

"Actually I was thinking of going to talk to Kyle; see how he's doing." Stan's eyes widened.

"What? Dude!"

"Hey, I'm just going to check on him, I won't tell him what you said. I just want to make sure he's okay. Besides, you've got your own meeting to worry about."

"Okay, well, you better not say anything." Stan pointed back at Kenny, who was beginning to walk backwards toward Kyle's house with his hands in the air.

"I promise. Now go have your little talk." Stan started walking the opposite direction, towards the coffee shop for the conversation he ultimately dreaded.

"You better be right about this, McCormick." he muttered to himself as he walked through the door, immediately being assaulted by the strong smell of coffee. Stan sees Tweek at the counter, but also sees that he is currently busy taking orders and ringing people up, so he decides to wait. Stan sits down at a table and glances around the store. Although there were plenty of people, Stan was pleased to see that none of them were people he knew too well, and he was especially pleased that none of them were his classmates. He wasn't sure he could handle that right now. Stan waits a bit longer until Tweek finally goes on break, which he predictably uses to drink coffee. Stan doesn't understand how he can stand the taste of that stuff. He walked over to Tweek, making sure that the other boy was aware of his presence while he did, and waved awkwardly.

"Uh, hey Tweek." He tried to force something of a smile despite all his nerves. Tweek's head snapped up to look at him.

"Stan?" he asked, quivering. "What are you doing here? You don't even like coffee. Unless you're here to pick up an order for someone else, in which case I'd have to see proof of purchase and also I'm on my break." He tapped at his phone while taking another sip of his drink.

"Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." Tweek gripped his coffee cup tighter.

"Oh god, what did I do? Am I fired? I swear I didn't do anything wrong, oh god!" he panicked.

"No, no, it's nothing like that." Stan rubbed the back of his neck. He was too afraid to look Tweek in the eye, not that it would have helped much anyway with how badly he was twitching. "It's uh, well. You know how Kyle made that bet against Cartman earlier?" Tweek's jitters seemed to tone down a bit, as if he somehow knew where Stan was going with this.

"Yeah, I was there for some of it, why?"

"You know how it was based on you and Craig fake dating before you started real dating?" Tweek blushed, twitching again.

"Ngh- yeah, why?" he pressed, starting to get a little more nervous.

"How did you know?" Stan looked up at Tweek.

"Know what?"

"That you were falling in love with Craig for real." Tweek blinked.

"Oh god." he started. "I have no idea, man!" Stan groaned under his breath. Of course he didn't know. Why did he think Tweek of all people would be any good about noticing how he felt? Stan was about to give up on him when suddenly Tweek started talking again. "I guess it was just like. A bunch of little things? That I would notice, like how I was actually enjoying spending time with him and I looked forward to talking to him each day, and ngh- and how when I was around him, I felt more happy? And safe? I guess? Just stuff like that." Stan thought about this for a moment, noticed how many of these things lined up with what he was feeling about Kyle, and decided he wanted a different answer.

"Do you remember how long it took before that started happening?"

"Well, I mean, it's a little different for us since we weren't really friends in the beginning. So we didn't have to go through that stage, it- ack- kind of just went from acquaintances pretending to be together to realizing we actually did want to, uh, be together." Tweek fidgeted with his coffee cup, which was now empty. "I don't know how long it took exactly though. Sorry." Stan shook his head.

"That's okay. You've been more than helpful. But I think I still have one more question." This time it was Stan who started to fidget, his anxiety beginning to creep up on him from within.

"What's that?" Something inside Stan told him that Tweek already knew what he was going to ask; that somehow he had been anticipating this one question the entire time.

"Once you realized how you felt," Stan bit his lip. "What did you do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this ones kinda short, stuffs been wack lately, but hopefully you still enjoy it and im excited for the next one
> 
> also blm, acab, please protect each other and stay safe, love yall  
> (and thanks for all the nice comments too, yall are gonna make me cry)


	4. Fears

Across town, another similar conversation was about to take place. Kenny knocked on the door to Kyle's house and was greeted by his mother.

"Oh hello Kenny! Are you here to see Kyle?" Kenny nods. "He's upstairs in his room." She steps to the side to let him in before turning to shout up the stairs, "Kyle! You have a visitor!" to which Kyle replies,

"Mom! I told you not to let anyone in!" Kyle's mom looked back at Kenny, who was about to start climbing the stairs, and smiled.

"He's just feeling a little under the weather, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you once you go in." Kenny slowly climbed the stairs before turning to knock on Kyle's door, which was surprisingly left open. He knocked on the door frame instead.

"Hey Kyle." Kyle, who had been laying on his back, turned to look at him, his expression sour.

"Hi Kenny."

"You, uh, doing okay?"

"Dude, why are you here? Did Stan put you up to this?" Kenny walked in and closed the door behind him.

"I'm gonna be real with you, Kyle," he said, sitting down. "I was gonna come say hi to you anyway, but then Stan told me you left early so I figured I'd check in on you. That's all." Kyle looked at the ground.

"Oh." was all he said.

"So tell me. What the hell happened?" Kyle looked up at Kenny, who was giving him a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kenny frowned. "You've never left Stan's early before. And not even saying goodbye to him? C'mon, Kyle, that's not like you." Kyle scowled.

"And what do you know about me? How would you know if I had ever done that before or not? Maybe I just did feel bad, and I did just want to go home, and maybe I didn't want to say goodbye because Stan was asleep!" Kyle huffed. He crossed his arms and rolled over so that he was no longer facing Kenny.

"Jeez dude, I was just saying."

"Yeah well, maybe you shouldn't."

"So then you wouldn't mind if Stan came to visit you later?" Kyle turned to look at Kenny a little faster than he intended.

"He's not, is he?" Kenny snickered. "What?" Kyle glared at him.

"Dude, your face. You looked so worried. 'Oh no Stan's not gonna come see me is he? Oooh.''' Kenny waved his hands around mockingly. "Man just tell me what's going on, Kyle. I know there's more to this than you're letting on." Kyle, whose angry expression made it seem like he was ready to tell Kenny off at any moment, paused, his face softening.

"I can't." He muttered, flopping on his back to stare at the ceiling once more.

"Well, you gotta say something, cause Stan thinks you're mad at him." It was silent for a moment.

"So you did talk to him."

"Kyle, he's worried about you."

"Why? I'm fine! I'm totally fine! And I'm not mad at him." Kyle huffed in a way that didn't exactly match his words.

"Then why don't you tell him that?"

"Kenny..." Kyle groaned. "I just can't, okay?"

"Why?" Kenny pressed.

"Because, Kenny!" Kyle snapped. "Things are starting to change, and I don't want them to." Finally Kenny was getting somewhere with this.

"Change how?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that either." Kyle mumbled softly. Kenny stood up, frustrated.

"God damn it Kyle, how am I supposed to help you if you won't even tell me what's wrong?" Kyle was silent. Kenny felt bad for yelling. He heard Kyle sniffle, and immediately felt ten times worse. "Aw man, I didn't mean to make you cry, dude." Kyle wiped his eyes and sniffed again.

"No, it wasn't your fault." he frowned. "It's this whole thing. This stupid bet." Kenny sat down on the opposite side of Kyle's bed to lend a supportive ear.

"Do you regret it?" he asked gently. Kyle covered his face with his hands.

"I don't know." he muttered. "I thought it would be so easy. But it's only been one day and now-!" He sat up in his bed and hugged his knees to his chest. "I can already tell it's starting to happen."

"What is?"

"Stan. And me." Kenny waited for Kyle to elaborate, but Kyle simply squeezed his legs tighter. He pressed his face into his thighs, a muffled sob escaping from the curled up ball he had become. Kenny tentatively reached out a hand and placed it on Kyle's back, giving him a few reassuring pats. After a few moments the sobs died down and Kyle attempted to compose himself. He looked up at Kenny, tears staining his face, his eyes fearful. "Kenny," Kyle whispered. "You have to understand," He gripped at the arm Kenny still had placed on his back. Tears started to form in his eyes again, causing him to cut eye contact. "I-" he hiccuped. "I can't be gay, Kenny. I can't." He repeated the last two words to himself a few more times, eyes tightly shut and still gripping Kenny's arm a little too tight.

"Woah, woah, woah, take it easy there, man. Who said anything about being gay?" Even though his eyes had reopened, Kyle still wouldn't look at him.

"If we lose the bet- if I lose the bet, that means I'll be in love with Stan. I'll be dating Stan. I'll be dating a boy."

"Yes," Kenny commented, not entirely sure where Kyle was going with this.

"If my parents found out-" There it was.

"Ah." Was all Kenny could think to say for a moment. In hindsight, it should have been more obvious. Kyle's parents were fine people, but he knew they had a tendency to be strict. He figured Kyle probably hadn't ever talked to them about this sort of thing before, or if he had, it hadn't ended positively. "Kyle, your parents love you. I'm sure they'd understand. After all, they were supportive of Tweek and Craig." Kenny offered.

"That's because it wasn't me. It was someone else. Someone who wasn't their kid." Kenny felt lost. He didn't have the experience with religious rules or strict parents like Kyle did. What else was he supposed to say? He didn't know. But he knew he couldn't just leave his friend scared and upset like this.

"I'm sorry Kyle, I don't know how to help. All I can tell you is just to follow your heart." Kenny paused. "And talk to Stan." Kyle looked up at him, eyes still shining from the tears that kept accumulating.

"How? What if he doesn't understand; what if he gets upset at me? What if-" Kenny placed a firm hand on Kyle's shoulder, causing him to jump slightly and stop the stream of questions that were pouring out of his mouth.

"Stan is your best friend. Even if other things start to change, that won't. Talk to him." Kyle nodded, but his expression showed that on the inside, he was still scared and not exactly on board with the idea yet. "Maybe you should go outside and get some fresh air for a little bit. Might help." Kenny suggested before getting up from where he was sitting on the bed and walking towards the door. "And if you're still worried about how your parents will react, you could always try talking to Craig."

"Craig?"

"Yeah. His dad wasn't exactly a fan of him dating Tweek when they first started going out, remember?" Kyle thought about it. He didn't really remember. He didn't really pay much attention to Craig or his family, if he was honest. He did know that Stan and Craig didn't exactly get along, but he hoped that wouldn't prevent Craig from being willing to give him advice on a situation he was apparently all too familiar with.

"Okay." He stated, mostly to himself. "I'll do it." By the time he finally willed himself to get out of bed, he noticed that Kenny had left. Kyle cleaned up and got dressed, starting to head downstairs before he realized one major problem with Kenny's plan. "Aw shit, I don't have Craig's number!" He opened his phone to ask Kenny to send it to him, only to find that it was still opened up on the conversation he last had with Stan. He instantly felt guilty about the way he left things, but wasn't sure how to approach. He sighed and closed out of the conversation, clicking on Kenny's contact instead. Maybe if he waited until Monday, he could just talk to Stan at school and everything would be fine. He typed out a message to Kenny.

Kyle: Hey, can you send me Craig's number? I don't have it.

Kenny: Yeah sure hold on

And with that, Kyle added Craig into his phone and typed out his first message. After several minutes of typing, erasing, retyping, and revising, Kyle finally settled on something that he hoped didn't sound too awkward. 

Kyle: Hi Craig, this is Kyle. There's something I want to talk to you about. Could we meet up sometime today?

He didn't bother waiting for a reply, his nerves getting the best of him as he closed out of his messages. He went downstairs and was greeted by his mother, who was glad to see he was feeling better.

"Are you going to go hang out with Stan again today?" she asked, handing Kyle his lunch.

"Uh," he began, not sure what exactly to say to his mother that wouldn't raise suspicion. "Probably not. I'm still not feeling super well today and I don't want him to get sick. I might go out for a walk later if that's okay."

"That sounds like a smart idea, sweetie. The fresh air will be good for you!"

"I sure hope so." kyle muttered to himself. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He checked it, and to his surprise, there was a message from Craig. He hesitated for a moment, but knew he couldn't just ignore it, especially when it would ultimately be helpful for him to talk to a third party about this sort of thing. Kyle clicked on it, his eyes glossing over the words and his brain not registering what they said at first glance. 

Craig: ya sure

"Huh." Kyle blinked. "I didn't think it'd be that easy." His phone buzzed again.

Craig: what time and where

Kyle thought about this for a moment. Where would a good private place to talk be? He originally would have picked the local library, but he wasn't sure how many other people would be there and he didn't want anyone to eavesdrop. Besides, libraries weren't exactly known for being great places for people to hold lengthy conversations. Or any conversations, really. Then it hit him.

Kyle: How about Stark's Pond? We can meet in half an hour if you're free.

Craig: k

 _I guess this is really happening, huh._ Kyle thought to himself. He might as well get a head start and start preparing now, both physically and mentally.

"Thanks for lunch, Mom." He gave her a soft smile. "I think I'm gonna go take that walk now." He pulled on his coat and shoes before stepping out the door. He hoped that if Stan was home, he wouldn't see him walking by. Eventually, Kyle would talk to him, but he simply wasn't ready to have that conversation yet. He had another conversation waiting for him after all, and it always worked better to take things one at a time. The air was cold on Kyle's face as he walked down the sidewalk toward the pond. He breathed in, the air feeling sharp in his lungs. He exhaled, and for some strange reason he couldn't pin down, Kyle felt himself starting to calm down. Maybe the fresh air really was good for him. He reached the park in little time and realized he still had about 15 minutes left to wait, so he took a seat on one of the benches facing the water. As he stared out at the water, the sun's rays reflecting off the surface, his mind began to wander. He thought about all the times he and Stan had hung out here together, just sitting and talking, being carefree and happy. He felt a tug at his heartstrings and found himself missing Stan, wishing that he were coming to meet Kyle instead of Craig. "Come on Kyle, pull yourself together. Soon everything will be back to normal and we can hang out here together again. Everything will be fine and it'll stop feeling weird."

"Keep telling yourself that." The unmistakably monotonous voice of Craig Tucker startled Kyle out of his pep talk. He hadn't realized how much time he had spent sitting there, thinking.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough." Craig shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the opposite side of the bench to Kyle. He glanced at Kyle, his hands in his pockets and his expression blank. "So what did you want to talk about?" Kyle sighed, similarly shoving his own hands in his pockets. Even though he had given himself time to prepare for this, he didn't feel like he was ready to have this conversation. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he would ever be ready, no matter how much prep time he had. He closed his eyes, mustering his courage.

"I want to talk to you about being gay." Craig's normally stoic face instantly gained a look of surprise.

"What?" He asked, not quite sure if he had heard Kyle correctly.

"How did you get your dad to accept it?" Kyle looked up at Craig sheepishly, feeling bad about starting with such a heavy question.

"Is this about that bet thing you made with Cartman yesterday." Craig asked in a way that sounded less like a question and more like an accusation.

"Well," Kyle tripped over his words. "Yes and no. I mean, I probably wouldn't have thought about it if the bet didn't happen, but it's not entirely because of that." Craig looked Kyle over for a moment, as if he were analyzing him.

"So you like Stan and you're worried about what your parents will think?" Craig asked bluntly, as if it was obvious.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean-" Kyle covered his face with his hands and groaned. "I don't like Stan. Not like that." Craig immediately looked sceptical.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious! I didn't come here to talk about Stan anyway, I wanted to ask what to do about my parents!"

"Because you like Stan."

"No! God damn it Craig, if you aren't going to help me then you might as well just go home." he growled, clenching his fists and subsequently his teeth.

"Listen." Craig started. "I know you don't want to admit it to yourself, but you wouldn't be asking about this kind of stuff unless you had some sort of feelings for him. Trust me. I've lived this." Kyle unclenched his fists and looked down at the grass, embarrassed. "The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be to actually help you."

"Sorry." Kyle muttered.

"So do you want my help or not?" Craig didn't waste any time, and he certainly didn't pull any punches. Kyle nodded. "Okay. Then I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else about this, got it?" Craig had a look in his eyes that Kyle hadn't seen before, one that made him look serious to a point where he looked a little intimidating. Kyle understood why though, this wasn't an easy thing to talk about with anyone, let alone someone you didn't regularly talk to in the first place. But if Craig was willing to open up, then Kyle wasn't going to waste the opportunity to hear him out.

"I promise." said Kyle, his own eyes returning Craig's intensity. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long to get this one out, been very busy and stressed lately but i promise i havent forgotten about this! hopefully next week ill have more time to write ; w ;


	5. Tough Talk

Craig broke Kyle's gaze and stared out at the lake. He breathed in deeply and sighed before he started to talk, slowly but surely, as if he had to carefully consider his every word before he said it.

"When Tweek and I first got paired together," he hesitated. "We hated it. I hated it." He looked at Kyle. "Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. It sucked ass. Having everyone try to convince you that you were something you weren't, that all of these assumptions people were making about you out of nowhere were true. It was fucking scary. And I was mad." he looked away again. "Mad at them. Mad at Tweek. Mad at myself."

"But then... what changed?" Craig was silent for a moment, but not in a way that felt awkward or like he didn't know what to say. It was more like he was choosing his words, deciding exactly how much of himself he was actually willing to expose to Kyle.

"At first, I was just doing it for the town's sake, y'know, to make everyone happy. Then we started hanging out for real, and it wasn't too bad. We became friends and that was fine, but people still expected us to be... more."

Kyle remembered. Even though it had happened years ago, Kyle remembered. He remembered the fear he felt at the thought that he might be the next target, that it could happen to anyone. How everyone seemed to forget about the whole thing after a few weeks. How he noticed that Tweek and Craig stayed together and that eventually just became a regular part of life. He remembered the first time he thought about having that sort of relationship with Stan, and how utterly horrified he was for thinking that. Now, both his fears and hopes are coming true at the same time and he doesn't know how to handle it.

"So... what did you do?" he asked. Craig had paused his story once he noticed the way Kyle's eyes glazed over as he was thinking.

"I talked to him." Craig looked back at Kyle with a straight face. Kyle frowned, frustrated.

"That's it? You just talked to him? Why make such a big deal about telling me this if that was all that happened?" Although not expecting Craig to give him an epiphany, Kyle had been hoping for more advice than that and felt a little betrayed.

"You didn't let me finish." Craig's expression didn't change. "It was the hardest fucking talk of my life. I think in that moment, I knew what it felt like to be as anxious as Tweek is every day. We met up and both kind of just stood around in silence for a bit until I finally broke the silence."

"What did you say?"  
Craig paused, his expression shifting slightly.

"This is the embarrassing part..." he wished there was a way for him to bring Kyle back to that moment, to show him what had happened instead of having to say it out loud. The moment where a slightly younger Craig and a slightly younger Tweek were standing face to face in complete silence, until Craig blurted out the most embarrassing thing he had ever said in his entire life. "Tweek, will you go out with me?" to which a dumbfounded Tweek didn't answer for what felt like an eternity, before finally realizing what he was asked and yelling "WHAT?"

Craig was brought back to the present by the sound of Kyle unsuccessfully trying to muffle his laughter. "Dude." Kyle covered his mouth with his hand until he stopped giggling.

"Sorry, sorry, that must've been super awkward. But you gotta admit, it's also really funny." Craig scowled.

"Remember what we promised, Broflovski. Not a word of this to anyone." Kyle nodded.

"I know. But what happened after that?" Craig sighed, not out of annoyance, but out of the embarrassment he felt of having to return to that moment yet again.

"Well, after he got over the initial shock of everything, I think he was just kind of confused." Craig remembered how Tweek's expression softened from surprise to uncertainty.

He remembered Tweek asking him, "Are you serious? This isn't a joke?" and how when he reassured him, Tweek laughed. "Craig, I thought we already were going out."

"Because we had to. Everyone wants us to."

"So then what are you asking me?"

"I'm asking you if you want to make it for real." Once again, Craig was snapped out of his reminiscing by Kyle.

"Hold on. There's still something I don't understand. When did you decide that you wanted to ask Tweek out in the first place? You kind of just jumped from one part to another." Craig sighed again, this time out of annoyance, but toward himself rather than Kyle.

"That's because it wasn't planned. It just kind of... came out of my mouth." Craig blushed. "I think when people were encouraging us to be more romantic in public was the moment I realized that I didn't really mind doing that kind of stuff with Tweek. That I wouldn't mind doing it even if people weren't telling us to. And that was also pretty scary. You think you've been straight your entire life until you catch yourself liking a guy in a different way than you ever have before and you have to just accept it. I had to come to terms with the fact that somehow everybody else had been allowed to decide my sexuality before I did, and that maybe they weren't that far off after all. I had no idea what Tweek was going to say about any of this, since things just went back to normal when we would hang out alone. That was the original reason I wanted to talk to him. But obviously it didn't end up going the way I planned." Craig's face grew redder as he sat there with Kyle in silence. "I did tell him all that eventually though. He felt the same way. I think he realized it faster than I did though, considering he thought we were already going out for real when I asked." Craig laughed awkwardly. It was the first time Kyle had heard Craig genuinely laugh in a while.

"I'm glad that everything worked out for you, but..." Kyle paused. "What if he had said no?" Craig winced.

"To be honest, I hadn't really considered that since I wasn't exactly planning on asking him then anyway." He gripped one of his arms, shrinking into himself; clearly this was a subject Craig was not a fan of. "I probably would've been upset, I mean, I wouldn't have let Tweek know that but..." he trailed off. "How are you supposed to recover from being rejected by someone that changed your entire world?"

"That's what I'm worried about." Kyle murmured. They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, not making eye contact.

"Well hey. If things don't work out, uh, you can always talk to me." Craig offered. Kyle wasn't sure if it was out of pity or actually sincere. Still he smiled awkwardly, grateful for the offer but hopeful that he'd never have to take it.

"Thanks, man." It was then that Craig stood up and stretched.

"Just talk to him, alright? I'm sure things will be fine. Marsh may not be good at... a lot of stuff, but he does care about you. See you around, Kyle." Craig waved before walking away. Kyle's chest tightened as he thought about those last few words. Stan cared about him, sure, but how much? Would it be enough for him to actually want to date his best friend? Kyle wasn't so sure.

Kyle continued to sit on the bench alone, unsure of his next move. He knew he would have to talk to Stan eventually; there was no way around that. Not that he didn't want to- he really did want to talk to Stan, but he still lacked the confidence to do so even after his conversation with Craig.

"Maybe if I just wait a little bit longer and talk to him once I figure out exactly what I want to say... yeah, yeah, that'll work. That'll be good." Kyle checked his phone. Noticing what time it was and just how long he had been sitting there, he realized he probably should get home or at least get up and walk somewhere else. No matter how pretty the light reflecting off the pond looked, Kyle knew he couldn't stand to stay next to it much longer; it reminded him too much of Stan. "If I clear my thoughts, then it'll be easier to focus and I can write them down." he reasoned with himself as he stood up. More and more of the same thoughts filled his head as he started on his way back home, to the point where he didn't realize he reached his house until his hand was almost on the doorknob. This was the point where he heard something he had been dreading the whole day.

"Uh, hey."

Stan's voice rang through Kyle's ears, causing him to flinch. He whipped around and was surprised to see that Stan was standing further away on the sidewalk than Kyle had assumed. Kyle must have been really lost in his thoughts. Stan waved awkwardly from where he was.

"What are you doing here, Stan?" The wheels turning in Kyle's brain had been turning so fast that when he finally did see Stan, they stopped completely and he no longer had any idea how to react. It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized he probably sounded pretty rude just then.

"Well, uh..." Stan took a cautious step forward. "I brought something for you. Thought it might help you feel better." He reached over to the mesh side pocket of his backpack and pulled out a coffee cup. "It's not as warm as it was, but it should still be good." he shrugged nervously. Kyle blinked. Coffee? Since when did he drink coffee? More importantly, since when did Stan drink coffee?

"Uh, thanks." Kyle stated plainly as he reached out and took the cup from Stan.

"I don't know what flavors you like or anything but Tweek said this one is pretty popular."

 _Tweek, huh? That's not who I expected Stan to hang out with in his spare time._ Kyle frowned.

"Yeah. I'm sure Tweek has great taste." The words came out a little more bitter than he had intended. He hoped the coffee wasn't going to be the same.

"So what were you doing outside anyway?" Stan asked as Kyle began to walk back to his front door. He was a bit confused by Kyle's attitude but was willing to chalk it up to him being sick, so he decided not to comment on it.

"I was just taking a walk to get some fresh air."

"Oh." Stan wasn't sure exactly what answer he had been expecting. "Did it help?" Kyle looked down at the door handle.

"I'm not sure yet." he answered, a little too quiet for Stan to hear the entire thing.

"What?" Stan asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Bye, Stan. Thanks for the coffee." Kyle said before entering his house and closing the door, leaving Stan alone on the sidewalk. Kyle sighed and held his head in his free hand. God, what an idiot he had been. Why had he snapped at Stan for doing something thoughtful? Why did it even matter what Stan had been doing before or who he was with? Kyle knew why, but he still didn't want to admit it to himself. He took a sip of the coffee and found that it actually tasted fairly good, not too bitter and not too sweet. There was a hint of something in there that Kyle couldn't quite put a finger on, maybe vanilla? Cinnamon? Either way, he had to admit, Tweek really did have good taste. Kyle walked upstairs to his room and set the cup down on his bedside table before flopping onto the bed istelf. He was worn out both emotionally and mentally and still had no idea what he was going to say to Stan, especially after the awkward conversation they just had.

Kyle stared up at his ceiling, his arms stretched out to the sides. He couldn't concentrate. No matter how hard he tried to control them, his thoughts kept flicking back to his conversation with Craig, and ultimately, to Stan. Kyle thought about what Craig would've said if he had witnessed that conversation with Stan.

"He brought you coffee and you still don't think he likes you. I thought you were supposed to be smart, Kyle."

He certainly didn't feel very smart. He felt lost. Lost and confused, and a little tired, too. His eyes started closing as his thoughts began blurring together.

 _A little rest couldn't hurt,_ he reassured himself as he continued to slip into a deep sleep, not noticing the gentle buzzing of his phone from within his coat pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this ones a bit short again, stuff has been really stressful lately and its kind of killed my motivation to work on this but i swear im going to see it through :"p hope yall are doing well

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first work here, so any comments and criticism are appreciated! all i ask is that you be kind
> 
> i cant guarantee regular updates because i have online classes and some other stuff that keeps me busy, but ill do my best to write when i can! i hope yall enjoy it


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